Laowa

Laowa 24mm f/14 2x Macro Probe Lens

R 29,999.00

1 in stock

Initially funded via Kickstarter and ranked the 2nd most funded lens project of all time, this is the world’s first consumer-grade probe lens which focuses from 2:1 macro to infinity and with a compelling wide angle ‘Bug Eye’ perspective. The wide angle design means much more depth of field at close distance than conventional telephoto macro lens so that more background details can now be seen. The front barrel of the lens is waterproof and a LED ring light is mounted at the tip of the lens. It covers both standard 35mm full frame & Super35 image sensors and it is super light to carry.

Initially designed as a lens for macro shooters of natural subjects, this lens seems to have found its calling amongst the cine industry for product shoots. The long, narrow tip allows incredible close-up angles of products, food and machines in operation. Just search "Laowa 24mm Probe" on YouTube and prepare to have your mind blown.

Full size sample images can be found in Laowa’s Flickr gallery here.

Further Information

The LED ring light at the tip of the lens requires an external power source via a USB port on the lens. It is low on power and can run for about 5 hours off a 5000MAh powerbank. The lens includes one standard USB cable and one with a brightness controller for the light.
Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony FE, Pentax K, Arri PL mounts are available.
The Canon Cine and ARRI versions have gears on the focus and aperture rings.
All versions have a declicked aperture

Want to rent this lens? It is available in SA from the following gear houses -

Cape Town

Company | Media Film Service
Mount | PL
Contact | Antonio Mendonca
Mail | antonio@mediafilmservice.com
Phone | 021 511 3300

Durban

Company | JR Film
Mount | EF Standard
Contact | Jimmy Reynolds
Mail | jimmy@jrfilm.co.za
Phone | 0723409668

Do you have the item in stock?

Each product has one of the following stock indicators

In stock: We have stock at our local warehouse
Out of stock: We do not have stock, but there is more on the way. You can get in touch with the chat app or contact form for an ETA.

Delivery options and what they cost

We pride ourselves on FREE lightning fast shipping. Apart from large f-stop gear orders, most of our items ship overnight and the daily cutoff is 14:00. You can read more on the deliveries page or get in touch for a confirmed delivery date and time.

Can I collect my parcel?

Yes, you can collect your order from our office in Bosman's Crossing, Stellenbosch (09:00 - 17:00). Just choose the collection option at checkout- we'll follow up with the specifics. Please note that we are very strict about payment if collecting. We will not release any goods if we are not 100% comfortable about payment. We accept the following as payment confirmation in order to release the goods. Please call or message Rudolph on 061 468 1931 if you have any questions.

Payfast Card Payment (any customers, new or returning)
EFT from FNB to FNB, pending fund clearance (any customers, new or returning)
Normal EFT from other banks to FNB (return customers only)
Instant EFT from other banks to FNB, pending fund clearance (Any customers, new or returning)
Cash (any customers, new or returning)

What payment options are available?

EFT
EFT via Payfast
Credit card: VISA & Mastercard

What is your policy on returns and or exchanges?

We are more than happy to exchange any product for something else or a full refund* if you feel that the item you chose isn’t quite right for you. See our Return Policy page for more.

*If paying with any card, 4.5% of the transaction value goes to the credit card payment facilitation company. "Full Refund" means that we will return the full amount we received after the credit card service fees. If you are at all unsure that what you're buying is ideal for you, rather opt for EFT payment to be safe.

Where is my order? How can I track my order?

You will receive an email with your tracking number once your order has been collected by our couriers. You can also find tracking number for your orders under "My account"

You can shop NiSi Filters at the following retailers.

Orms Bellville
Victorian Towers, 2 Palm St, Bellville, Cape Town

Fritz van Zyl, 021 910 1380

Kameraz
Rosebank Mall, 50 Bath Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg

Jean-Francois, 011 880 2885

Photoquip
28 Pearce St, Berea, East London

Damien Bradshaw, 083 574 9134

Katz
66 17th Ave, Broadwood, Port Elizabeth
Lascel, 041 367 4401

Choosing Laowa

Understanding the Laowa product range

1. Firstly, they make a variety of macro lenses, primarily for the 35mm market - Canon, Nikon and Sony.

2. Secondly, they make what is essentially only one wide angle lens, but for all formats from Micro ¾, Fuji X, 35mm, Fuji GFX and even PL mounts. Once you consolidate these different versions of the Zero-D ultra-wide, the product range is quite simple.

3. Thirdly, they are now (2019) expanding the product range beyond the Zero-D and macro lenses with a dedicated cine zoom and a range of fast, wide MFT lenses for the pro-drone market. The also released their first wide angle zoom lens recently, suggesting that they will be releasing zoom lenses for all mounts.

Ultra Wide Zero-D Lens

The middle lens (12mm) is the brand’s genesis. It offers a super wide view, impeccable sharpness and class-leading distortion performance in a compact and rock-solid build at a price far below the electronic competition.

Building on the success of the 12mm, they released versions for almost every mount on the market, which is what you see to the left and right of the 12mm, so essentially these are all the same lens, for different users. Note that the 15mm f/4 is absent - it is something totally different, which is why it is confusing to approach the Laowa product range from a focal length perspective.

Macro Madness

Laowa seem to have become better known for their macro lenses as this is an area that the mainstream manufacturers have neglected and Laowa have seized the gap with resounding success. As these lenses are all different, we will elaborate more on each with a dedicated content section. Instead of going chronologically, we’ll sort them by weirdness. Image © XiaoKaiHuo

Choosing Laowa

24mm f/14 2x Probe Lens

Released in 2018, this lens launched Laowa far beyond the world of macro and wide angle photo nerds into the tech spotlight.

The wide angle of view combined with the long narrow (and waterproof) tip has opened up a completely new world to photographers and videographers. Originally designed with nature macro photographers in mind, the biggest market for the lens is food and product videography. The lens produces a wide angle micro-view of anything from a burger to a microchip or a line-up of wine bottles. Mind you, people are also getting amazing close-ups of things like bees in their hives and fish in shallow water.

Laowa 24mm f/14 2x Macro Probe Lens

Choosing Laowa

15mm f/4 1x Macro Lens with Shift

All the manufacturers make macro lenses with a long focal length - why? We don’t know, but we’re glad that someone decided to do something different. A magnification factor of one doesn’t sound like much, but your mind might be changed by this lens’s minimum focus distance - seven millimeters. Not centimeters, millimeters.

This lens allows a close-up of any subject (that doesn’t bite) WITH its surroundings included in the photo. Oh and it also has a shift function. Laowa know how to make lenses that offer a unique view and this is one of their most popular lenses. Our customers most commonly use it for close-ups of small critters in their environment or for close-up product photography with a secondary subject in background.

Laowa 15mm f/4 1:1 Wide Angle Macro Lens

Choosing laowa

25mm f/2.8 x 2.5 - x5.0

An affordable ultra-macro lens with spectacular image quality. Don’t take our word for it - read SA’s macro queen Vida van der Walt’s thoughts on the lens.

This not only opens the 5x macro world for Nikon and Sony shooters, but it also makes it available to Canon shooters for a fraction of the price of the MPE 65mm.

Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5x Ultra Macro Lens

Choosing Laowa

60mm + 100mm f/2.8 2x Macro

The 60mm is another one of Laowa’s benchmark lenses as it offers image quality that will scare an MTF chart’s curves straight and twice the magnification of Canon and Nikon’s offerings.

Add class-leading bokeh, indestructible build quality and affordability and you’ve got one of the best macro lenses on the market.

In response to the success of the 60mm, a 100mm counterpart will be released in Q2 or Q3 of 2019. Did we mention that despite a 2x magnification factor, these lenses focus to infinity and make killer primes for general use?

Laowa 60mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro Lens

15mm f/4 Wide Angle Macro

A Drakensberg Crag Lizard by Luke Verburgt. Available for Canon, Nikon and Sony.

Choosing Laowa

10-18mm f/4 - f/5.6 for Sony FE

Laowa are rapidly expanding their lens line-up in a variety of directions. The first and most notable is their first zoom lens, the 10-18mm f/4-f/5.6 for Sony’s full frame FE mount.

Laowa 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 Lens SONY FE

10-18mm f/4 - f/5.6 for Sony FE

West Coast Jetty by Basil Parker.

Taking on the big guns

25-100mm OOOM T/2.6 Cine Zoom

Slated for release in early 2020, this lens promises amazing image quality and bokeh with near zero focus breathing at a price that will scare the Japanese and German cine lens manufacturers.

Tiny Wides

4mm f/2.8 + 17mm f/1.8 MFT

Laowa are tackling the demand for affordable, fast, wide primes for the MFT market with the development of a fisheye and f/1.8 wide lens for this booming mount.